fur vs wool felt

[Bob Roberts]

Can I have your thoughts on Cashmere wool? Specifically thinking of a Guerra brand Cashmere. Thx.

 

[mayserwegener]

I had a couple Guerra Cashlux hats (looks like they are discontinued). They don't come in open crown and the dimensions / form are not what most desire here. From what I can remember the felt is of a lighter dress weight with a nice finish / colors. If you like the dimensions / form they are worth checking out. I am not a fan of Guerra sweatbands but they might have changed them (this is going back a few years).

Looks like they dropped the Cashlux and only offer these now which look like a step down from the Cashlux.

http://www.guerra1855.com/cappelli_famiglia.asp?Famiglia=PRESTIGE

 

[Bob Roberts]

I had a couple Guerra Cashlux hats (looks like they are discontinued). They don't come in open crown and the dimensions / form are not what most desire here. From what I can remember the felt is of a lighter dress weight with a nice finish / colors. If you like the dimensions / form they are worth checking out. I am not a fan of Guerra sweatbands but they might have changed them (this is going back a few years).

Looks like they dropped the Cashlux and only offer these now which look like a step down from the Cashlux.

http://www.guerra1855.com/cappelli_famiglia.asp?Famiglia=PRESTIGE

Thank you once again for your info. I will look for Cashlux.

 

[Ginseng]

Thank you for a brilliant exchange of information, gentlemen. Most illuminating.

Now for a question of my own: have hats ever been made in chinchilla or mink?

 

[tonyb]

Thank you for a brilliant exchange of information, gentlemen. Most illuminating.

Now for a question of my own: have hats ever been made in chinchilla or mink?

Such furs have been used in blends with other animal fibers. Our own Art Fawcett offers such a thing. I haven't handled one of Art's "Legacy" grade hats myself, but I am assured the "hand" is exquisite.

 

[Daniele Tanto]

I welcome the request made by Steve and I provide photographs of a part of my collection of hats made of wool. I add a little example as far as my knowledge of European hats. The hats come in modern Europe areas, Alps and other mountains of the Old Continent , where the force of the water was spun wool. The wool produced in the alpine valleys was the main ingredient for making hats.

French hat late thirties
Spinning and finishing of wool has reached the highest level of quality standards. Most built in the Alpine hats were made of wool of varying type and quality. Production Austrian and the German , Italian and French that had the features to be marked on the use of wool in its variants.

French hat of the early thirties
Steve, who possesses an unrivaled collection of Austrians and Germans hats, has also collected countless information on manufacture of wool felt that is the basic ingredient of the hats he so lovingly collected.
My intervention is intended as a testimony of what I've gathered, I have other hats in wool unavailable in photography, in my collection of Italian and French hats.
Here in Italy there are no beavers, so the maximum in the years between the wars, when it began to produce more continuity with the felts mixed wool and animal hair, they used rabbits. This animal was very present in domestic life and the skins, if not used for other purposes, were a major component of the mixed felts.

French hat of the thirties
They also used the skins of wild hare that was being much rarer. Then the flourishing European industry of hats began to stock up on fine leathers such as beavers and otters in Canada and rabbits in Australia to meet the demand of the countries in which they were exported hats (especially the US).
I want to tell you that in fact the issue wool against beaver is misplaced.
It is all about understanding the different origins of the raw materials with which on the one side and the other of the Atlantic have made hats.

Italian hat of the forties
The center of the Italian wool hatters was the city of Monza, near Milan, where there were the huge concentration of hatters in Lombardy (the first to decline due to the cheaper Brasilian wool) The wool spun and woven in Monza was absolute quality and exported worldwide. One of the last representatives of hatters Monza is Carlo Sala who worked under his name or trademark Loncom the wool of his city. In Piedmont, Alessandria and Biella, were cities of fur felt where there are the largest producers of Italian hats (Borsalino, Barbisio, Cervo, Guerra and Panizza plus others. Do you want more? ;-))
These woolen hats in photography have stood the test of time because they all have a great age between seventy and eighty years old. Many of you , touching them with the hand, would say made with fur felt for the sublime quality of the wool . Then there are the hats made of felt mixed : wool and animal hair as the beautiful Alan Borsalino called " Misto ". Some of the beautiful hats Guerra 1855 I posted in recent weeks have mixed felt of wool and fur.
I repeat once again that the basis that differentiates the European and American hats production is the diversity of the raw material and nothing else.

 

[Trenchfriend]

The last one, yummy!!

 

[Daniele Tanto]

If your head has a circumference of 57 cm. it's yours
Mine is bigger!

 

[Trenchfriend]

If your head has a circumference of 57 cm. it's yours
Mine is bigger!

Sorry, I've got enough hats and mine is 59cm.

 

[Frunobulax]

Sorry, I've got enough hats

Blasphemy!

 

[Bob Roberts]

I welcome the request made by Steve and I provide photographs of a part of my collection of hats made of wool. I add a little example as far as my knowledge of European hats. The hats come in modern Europe areas, Alps and other mountains of the Old Continent , where the force of the water was spun wool. The wool produced in the alpine valleys was the main ingredient for making hats.

French hat late thirties
Spinning and finishing of wool has reached the highest level of quality standards. Most built in the Alpine hats were made of wool of varying type and quality. Production Austrian and the German , Italian and French that had the features to be marked on the use of wool in its variants.

French hat of the early thirties
Steve, who possesses an unrivaled collection of Austrians and Germans hats, has also collected countless information on manufacture of wool felt that is the basic ingredient of the hats he so lovingly collected.
My intervention is intended as a testimony of what I've gathered, I have other hats in wool unavailable in photography, in my collection of Italian and French hats.
Here in Italy there are no beavers, so the maximum in the years between the wars, when it began to produce more continuity with the felts mixed wool and animal hair, they used rabbits. This animal was very present in domestic life and the skins, if not used for other purposes, were a major component of the mixed felts.

French hat of the thirties
They also used the skins of wild hare that was being much rarer. Then the flourishing European industry of hats began to stock up on fine leathers such as beavers and otters in Canada and rabbits in Australia to meet the demand of the countries in which they were exported hats (especially the US).
I want to tell you that in fact the issue wool against beaver is misplaced.
It is all about understanding the different origins of the raw materials with which on the one side and the other of the Atlantic have made hats.

Italian hat of the forties
The center of the Italian wool hatters was the city of Monza, near Milan, where there were the huge concentration of hatters in Lombardy (the first to decline due to the cheaper Brasilian wool) The wool spun and woven in Monza was absolute quality and exported worldwide. One of the last representatives of hatters Monza is Carlo Sala who worked under his name or trademark Loncom the wool of his city. In Piedmont, Alessandria and Biella, were cities of fur felt where there are the largest producers of Italian hats (Borsalino, Barbisio, Cervo, Guerra and Panizza plus others. Do you want more? ;-))
These woolen hats in photography have stood the test of time because they all have a great age between seventy and eighty years old. Many of you , touching them with the hand, would say made with fur felt for the sublime quality of the wool . Then there are the hats made of felt mixed : wool and animal hair as the beautiful Alan Borsalino called " Misto ". Some of the beautiful hats Guerra 1855 I posted in recent weeks have mixed felt of wool and fur.
I repeat once again that the basis that differentiates the European and American hats production is the diversity of the raw material and nothing else.

Enlightenment! Thx.

 

[RJR]

Very interesting.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Blasphemy!

Sorry. I've got five hats and eight flatcaps already...

 

[navarre]

Blasphemy!

+10

 

[navarre]

Great set of hats Daniel thanks for the post.

 

[mayserwegener]

Daniele, Thank you posting the Italian and French wool hats! They are all fantastic and made of wool!

 

[HatCheckMan]

Hi! First time posting on the Lounge, after a year or so of reading just about every post! I developed a definite bias towards fur felt, and a definite bias against wool felt hats! If I saw a hat that wasn’t fur, well I just wasn’t interested! I have now acquired a few nice vintagefur hats, but I have come to one conclusion; you see I live in Orlando! The humidity capital of the country, and fur, doesn’t do well in high humidity! And with a 9 mo. summer, that’s a problem. So, I’m reevaluating wool! Unlike fur it wicks away moisture and allows it to evaporate keeping you much cooler, at least not hotter, than fur! So I took the plunge and got a couple of wool numbers! World of difference!
Well, that’s my take on it! Again I’m glad I’m now a member of The Fedora Lounge

 

[StoryPNW]

Hi! First time posting on the Lounge, after a year or so of reading just about every post! I developed a definite bias towards fur felt, and a definite bias against wool felt hats! If I saw a hat that wasn’t fur, well I just wasn’t interested! I have now acquired a few nice vintagefur hats, but I have come to one conclusion; you see I live in Orlando! The humidity capital of the country, and fur, doesn’t do well in high humidity! And with a 9 mo. summer, that’s a problem. So, I’m reevaluating wool! Unlike fur it wicks away moisture and allows it to evaporate keeping you much cooler, at least not hotter, than fur! So I took the plunge and got a couple of wool numbers! World of difference!
Well, that’s my take on it! Again I’m glad I’m now a member of The Fedora Lounge

Interesting take, I would have never thought about wool regulating temperature better but it makes sense.

 

[deadlyhandsome]

Hi! First time posting on the Lounge, after a year or so of reading just about every post! I developed a definite bias towards fur felt, and a definite bias against wool felt hats! If I saw a hat that wasn’t fur, well I just wasn’t interested! I have now acquired a few nice vintagefur hats, but I have come to one conclusion; you see I live in Orlando! The humidity capital of the country, and fur, doesn’t do well in high humidity! And with a 9 mo. summer, that’s a problem. So, I’m reevaluating wool! Unlike fur it wicks away moisture and allows it to evaporate keeping you much cooler, at least not hotter, than fur! So I took the plunge and got a couple of wool numbers! World of difference!
Well, that’s my take on it! Again I’m glad I’m now a member of The Fedora Lounge

Wool has been renowned for its ability to insulate while wet, but I never thought of it as a wicking fiber. I do know that a lot of modern wool hats are low density and allow for more airflow and breathability than tightly felted dense fur.

For your long “summers” I’d recommend some sorts of well-vented straw over any kind of felt. I usually prefer felt over straw, but comfort is always my first priority.

 

[HatCheckMan]

Yes, there comes a time down here; sometime in late May, when straw is a definite must! At that point, there’s no way you can wear anything but! And my hat collection reflects this! Just counted and I have 5!